Just built one of these this weekend with an AMD A6 Fusion APU & Asus F1A75-M Pro motherboard.

The hardest part of the build was finding a Scythe Big Shuriken. Everything else went together just fine. I think someone else here made the statement that the case instructions are excellent and I agree.

Even with the stock fans, the machine is almost inaudible as is. Excellent HTPC case, highly recommended.

ok, this is driving me up the wall.I'm guessing I've got a defective stock cooler because at system startup, the BIOS reports 50C and then it goes to 58C after a few minutes.At one point, I did get it down to 29C by turning the screws on the heatsink counterclockwise and then pushing it in while turning, but it's now apparently loose again.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a similar size fan that doesn't require a backplate? I don't want to tear the system down again and don't have a lot of space in this HTPC case. The Big Shuriken is out because I have RAM too close to the socket Thermaltake CLP0555?

I have GD04B. Maybe I looking wrong way: If I don't want to use optical drive, how to fix delivered cover inside hole for optical drive. I miss something to hold that cover. I put paper box /screw was delivered inside/ to optical drive bay and stick cover onto it. I know it is crazy but...

I have a worklog posted on another forum. It is a HTPC for my brother.The Big Shuriken is probably the best cooler for this case, as it gives you just the right height should you choose to use a DVD drive.

I thought I could deal with the stock cooler based on the seating distance, having previously built a SB-based server and not finding it too bad, but it's just too loud and too inadequate. The fan ticks at low speed too. The minimum speed it could run at via PWM was around 1000RPM, and refused to go any lower. At max speed (which it does briefly at every power on, it's horrendous). The push-pin mounting is complete crap. It's a good job the CPUs have the heat spreaders or else we'd see more cooked or cracked cores. Even though the pins "clicked", one of them managed to jam and as such wasn't actually mounted. There is just no way to tell visually either, until you boot up and the CPU temperature is up in the 60s (once correctly mounted, it averaged around 35).

The Big Shuriken is considerably better than the stock Sandy Bridge heatsink/fan. It was a bit inconvenient to remove the motherboard from the case (particularly with the flimsy finger-cutting I/O plate ASUS supply). The instructions were a bit daunting, but in reality it's simple. Anyone considering a GD04/GD05 - just buy the Big Shuriken from the start; you'll only end up replacing the stock cooler. The only downside was that the fins align themselves at 90 degrees to the side exhaust fans, when the Shuriken is aligned so its base sits on the CPU socket plate.

There was a brief "d'oh" moment after installing the Zotac card, as it looked as if the brace member and optical drive were going to clash with it (since the heatsink wraps around the top of the card). I didn't even think to check the "height" of the card, having only done regular tower builds before. Fortunately it fits like a glove - the fins in the Zotac card line up with the brace perfectly.

The ASUS board can control PWM and regular fans, and the SilverStone fans are pretty nice (much better than the junk Antec supply with their supposed quiet cases). I can hear the system, unlike my main rig, but it's a benign whoosh of air. No whining, and no humming. My only complaint about the ASUS motherboard is that it doesn't reach the last set of mounting posts, so the entire right edge is unsupported. Unfortunately, this edge is home to the ATX connector which is a pain to plug in. You have to be very careful to avoid bending the board.

The Corsair CX430 seems to do the job well enough. It isn't the loudest thing in the case, all of the cables reach where they need to, and although not modular there isn't too much excess cable. The extra cables fit between the left case fan and PSU, so no blocking of the fan.

I'm in the early stages of considering this case in one of two possible situations, neither of which are actually as HTPCs (I built my first one of which earlier in the year).

As I am seriously short of desktop space and don't want a PC on the floor, I was thinking of having it on the desk with a monitor on top of it. Not ideal I admit, but in practice would this case be able to support a 21-22" LCD? I suppose the alternative is to get some sort of stand or riser to go over the top of the case but at this initial stage I'm just trying to suss out whether this is even a runner.

I'm also not too fond of putting a case (directly) on the floor, but I've put my desktop on a home-made trolley next to my desk: it's just a simple MDF board the size of the case with 4 wheels screwed to the bottom. This way it won't suck up too much dust, it's quite mobile so I can vacuum under it, and it's further away from my ears so completely inaudible.

I'm also not too fond of putting a case (directly) on the floor, but I've put my desktop on a home-made trolley next to my desk: it's just a simple MDF board the size of the case with 4 wheels screwed to the bottom. This way it won't suck up too much dust, it's quite mobile so I can vacuum under it, and it's further away from my ears so completely inaudible.

Thanks Freeco, I was researching acrylic stands but they would almost certainly need to be custom made to fit over the case, thereby more than doubling the cost. If I was handy I'd make something out of MDF, sadly my efforts at woodwork at school were not overly good.

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